Promise
by Zimtsternchen
Summary: How did Nessa react about her father's death? And what role did Boq play? Read to find out : I'm not good at summaries...


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, places, lyrics or story of Wicked. [But I wish I would!

This is my first story here and English is not my mother tongue... Please be kind.

Promise (I'll never leave you)

"Listen, Nessa... uh, Nessa, surely now I'll matter less – to you and you won't mind my leaving here tonight."

"Father's dead." Nessarose said this without any emotion, so that Boq was nearly scared, she could maybe have lost her ability to feel at all.

"Nessa, this..." What should he say? Did he feel sorry? He had never liked Nessa's father very much. He'd been quite unsympathetic. If he had ever seen him at all.

He always made Boq notice, he did not think he was good enough for his daughter. A munchkin, how ridiculous that was.

Not that Boq had ever planned to be together with Nessa such a long time. Pretending to love her.

But he also had to admit that he enjoyed her company more than he had thought before. And he really did not want to give it up anymore.

As Nessa realized, Boq would not bring his sentence to an end, she told him the next news:

"I will be governor of munchkin land." Again, that cold, stiff impression on her face.

"Nessa..." He moved one step towards her. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me...? You ask, what's wrong with me! Just look at me! Look at my life!" Boq was lightened. She was angry. Anger was good. It showed that, at least, she was still able to feel.

"It's not just this damned wheelchair", she continued with a shiver in her voice, "Elphaba has left me. She has cared for me my whole life, she lightened the fact that I'm sitting in this chair and now she's left me all alone, trying to rescue Animals she doesn't even know by name or something!

And now father, too... He's also left me alone... What shall I do now? I can't manage all this all alone." And the anger was gone.

This was Nessarose again, his sweet little rose. How she sat there in her wheelchair, with tears in her eyes. Small and vulnerable. This was Nessa. Nessa, whom he always wanted to protect, to take away from the evil world outside.

He could not say for sure if he was in love with her. Not the same way he was in love with Galinda, or Glinda as she now named herself. The love he felt for Glinda was not rationally to explain. He just loved her and would love her his whole life long and even longer.

But Nessa... She was always there and she wanted to be with him. She needed him, he knew that for sure. And he liked her so much. He wanted to take at least a part of the burden she was carrying with her. Help her suffering a little less.

Maybe this was not love. But Nessa was pretty and smart and, sure, he liked her a lot.

"Boq, will you leave me, too?"

"Of course not. I'll never leave you, Nessa."

Glinda was too far away, anyway. He had to care for Nessa now. He wanted to be there for her, just for her. Because she deserved him.

He was just a munchkin with a heart she would forever have to share with another girl. But if Nessa wanted exactly this munchkin, this heart, then this was the least thing he could do. After all she had to experience and suffer. Without him, she would never be able to take all this.

"Promise, Boq." She looked at him, still tears in her eyes.

"I promise. I promise I will never ever leave you, Nessarose Thropp."

Well, he had broken his promise. A few years later, but didn't a promise be meant to last forever? Of course he had not known Nessarose would change that much. That she was going to be the Wicked Witch of the East.

But still he had broken his promise.

This was probably the punishment. With this tin body he would never again be able to really help somebody. Love somebody.

Yes, this was probably the right punishment.

And Nessa... Nessa was dead. Striked dead by a house. She had not deserved such a miserable ending of her life, even if she had done some things the wrong way. She had still been Nessa, after all. She could have loved him, even in this shape.

But it was too late for such thoughts. He had not protected her.

And if a tin man would have had the ability to cry, Boq could have cried a whole lake.

For the poor girl for whom he had not kept his promise.


End file.
